| Nazar Garden | |||||||
| Native Name: | باغ نظر | ||||||
| Native Language: | fa | ||||||
| Native Name2: | Bāgh-e Nazar | ||||||
| Native Language2: | fa-Latn | ||||||
| Embedded: |
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| Location: | Kazerun, Iran | ||||||
| Area: | 5 acres (primary), 3.5 acres (current) | ||||||
| Founded: | 1737 | ||||||
| Built: | Khajeh Ali Qoli Khan Afshar, Ruler of Kazerun | ||||||
| Governing Body: | Kazerun Municipality | ||||||
Nazar Garden (Persian: باغ نظر romanized: Bāgh-e Nazar) is one of the historical gardens of Iran, which is located in the city of Kazerun and is considered one of the tourist attractions and historical places of this city.[1] This garden was created by Khajeh Ali Qoli Khan Afshar, the ruler of Kazerun in the Afsharid dynasty in the year 1737, in the southwest of the city of Kazerun.[2] Throughout history, Nazar Garden has been a place of rest and reception and a dormitory for many kings and princes, governors, elders and other dignitaries of Iran, Fars region and foreign countries.[3]
At the beginning of its establishment, Nazar Garden was located a short distance from the southwest of Kazerun city. Later, with the expansion of the city, this garden was included in the city limits. The initial area of the garden was about 5 hectares, which was later reduced to 3.5 hectares due to the change of use of parts of the garden.[4] Nazar Garden is now located in the area of Mosalla neighborhood of Kazerun, and its entrance is through Hafez Street. The current owner of the garden is Kazerun municipality.[5] This garden also hosts the Kazerun environment house.[6]
The construction of Nazar Garden was the idea of Khajeh Hessam al-Din Afshar, one of the rulers of Kazerun during the Safavid and Afsharid dynasty. But in the end, Khajeh Ali Qoli Khan Afshar, the grandson of his brother, who later became the ruler of Kazarun, laid the foundation for the construction of Nazar Garden in 1737 AD. He built Nazar Garden in the form of four streets that intersect in the form of a crossroads. The main trees of the garden were Bitter oranges and Aegle marmelos.[7] [8]
There are two ideas about the reason for naming Nazar Garden. One idea explains the name of Nazar Garden in this way that if we convert the word "Nazar" to Abjad letters, the year of construction of this garden (1150 A.H.) is obtained.[9] Nevertheless, Bastani Parizi, an Iranian historian, has a different opinion in this regard. He believes that this garden was public and a place to see, view, watch and entertain people, and in fact, it was a city park, and for this reason, it was known as Nazar (means See).[10]
In the past, this garden had a mansion with a special architecture, which was known as Nazar Garden Kūshk (Kiosk).[11] However, this mansion was destroyed in the 1980s for unknown reasons.
In 1892, Hossein-Qoli Nezam al-Saltaneh Mafi, the prime minister of Iran during the reign of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar, who was the governor of Fars region at that time, during his trip to Kazerun and staying in Nazar Garden, ordered the construction of a Ab anbar at the entrance of the garden. At that time, Izadi of Kazerun, a poet of the Qajar era, made the history of the Ab anbar's construction on a marble stone and installed it at the entrance of the Ab anbar. This Ab anbar was destroyed in 1975.[12]
Simultaneously with the construction of the Ab anbar, Hossein-Qoli Nezam al-Saltaneh Mafi also ordered the construction of Pit of Nazar Garden. This pit was filled with water from the aqueduct and turned into a small artificial lake that was used to irrigate the garden. This pit later became dry and unused, and residential houses were built on it in the following years.[13]
Hossein-Qoli Nezam al-Saltaneh Mafi, the Prime Minister of Iran during the reign of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar, who ordered the construction of the Ab anbar and Pit of Nazar Garden, in a letter he wrote to his son in 1903, requested to preserve the Ab anbar of Nazar Garden, which is one of his relics.[14] He writes about his stay in Nazar Garden in the book of Memories and Documents:Sadr al-Sadat Kazeruni, the poet and writer of the Qajar era writes about this garden and other gardens of Kazerun in the book Āsār al-Rezā:Mohammad Ali Khan Sadid al-Saltaneh, a historian and writer of the Qajar era, who visited Nazar Garden in 1896, writes as follows:Forsat-od-Dowleh Shirazi, a poet and writer of the Qajar era writes about this garden in the book of Asar-e Ajam:He writes elsewhere:He also writes in Dabestan al-Forsat book:Pirzadeh Naeeni, one of the intellectuals of the Qajar era, who visited Kazerun in 1888, writes about this garden:Mohammad Hossein Rokn-Zadeh Adamiat, an author and journalist of the Qajar and Pahlavi eras writes about this garden in the book Fars and International War:Hasan Fasa'i, an author and historian of the Qajar era writes about Nazar Garden in the book Fars-Nama-ye Naseri:General Sir Percy Sykes, an English officer and the founder of the South Persia Rifles in World War I, writes about Nazar Garden in the book Ten Thousand Miles in Iran:Colonel Cherikov, the representative of the Russia government in Iran, who was the head of the Iran-Ottoman Boundary Commission at that time, writes in his travelogue:Mohammad Taghi Mostafavi, an archeologist and head of the National Museum of Iran in the Pahlavi era mentions this garden in the book of Pars region:Ali Naghi Behrouzi, an author and head of the Fars Culture Secretariat in the Pahlavi era writes about this garden:Mohammad Javad Behrouzi, a poet and writer of the Pahlavi era writes in the book Green city: